The Strange Tale from the Abyss
by Kariko Emma
Summary: A few years after the war, Kakashi's feeling a little blue. Good thing his wife is willing to help.


**Author's Note:** I've not yet written about Kakashi and Yuugao in married sense, so that's how this was partly conceived. The other half is simply the beginnings of a short muse dragged out. Oh, and you are hereby forewarned this is typically weird and particularly fscked up. I tell you so now, so leave me the fsck alone.

**Disclaimer:** D'awwww…..who can resist….  
><strong>Genre:<strong> D'awwww…/mindfunk.

**Really Sorry:** That this is my first thing in months… (Anybody else have a better title…?)

.

.

.

.

.

Darkness painted the mature field a lavender ocean.

It was much lighter than the color of her hair, but just as long. The ends cut triangles into the stars and his hair did the same near the old wooden post with a head full of straw and a drooping smile.

Really.

The air has been quiet for the last several minutes and fragrant, with colors of summer in the form of flowers and white chestnut that hasn't done a damn thing to clear his head thank you very much. Even now her melting pot of petals and water sits in a bowl on the back porch.

That's his fault though, because he forgot to take it inside after three hours. What was he doing? None of your business, Gai.

He even tripped over that bowl once and stubbed his toe. Of course that casualty didn't compare near enough to the woman losing those flowers. And since then he's never really cared for it anyway. So why should it be _his_ responsibility to take it inside and mix it with brandy?

Right.

After all, there are better things to use the brandy for.

Oh yes.

It was no surprise to his Eternal Rival and young students he'd picked up the habit when one day they found the ex-copy nin in downtown Konoha in the bar surrounded by empty bottles and paperwork all folded into various origami creatures as equally drunk as Kakashi was. Yuugao had already fled the scene before it came to that, much like she'd done tonight.

Smart woman.

And that's not to say there's no shame involved. Oh no. That's why she left:

To find a flower.

Yeah…

Right…

She took the baby with her. And that's his fault too because he forgot her once in the village. He came home (tired), waved, walked in, kicked off his shoes, and immediately she knew he'd forgotten her. And how in the world could he ever do _that?_

"…None of your business?"

Wrong answer.

Luckily she wasn't injured whilst playing in an empty drawer in an office in the kage's tower. She was very excited to see another human being though. Especially her mother, who scooped up the young thing, patted the child's back, and whispered sweet tones of vengeances upon her willowy father frolicking in his fields instead of getting his life back together.

Granted…life is a rather large concept, and his wife gives him credit the aloof jounin has at least begun to share it.

The little girl is proof of that.

Oh yes, that little girl who, life her mother, danced circles around him in the garden now growing lavender—violet and blooming in clusters so fragrant he can smell it from where he's seated. And what was lavender good for, he asked.

"Everything," she'd said.

But even quantity can't pass for quality sometimes.

And oh she'd tried everything, as only a tireless woman can.

And he, amused, let her.

See that was the joke: "…Does this help?"

"No, dear," he'd say.

"Well how 'bout this?"

"No."

"Well how 'bout that?"

"No. But you could give me a back massage."

At which point she'd let out a little noise like maybe I will and maybe I won't, but I probably will because I'd do anything for you and hey let's treasure these moments because I understand now that these moments are the ones we take to heart before they vanish in a dream.

"…Right."

But she looked expectant.

It was the scene when and where she left with the curtains blowing slightly on a calm, crisp day of early autumn whose sun was golden and scarecrow was motionless. "Well?" she prodded like only a tiresome woman can.

He waved his fingers behind him in the kitchen. "Have a nice time."

Yuugao's eyelids flattened like shades rolling down.

He knew she wanted something more. Her shoes on the floor didn't bounce away, nor did she attempt to turn. But Kakashi wasn't about to give it to her. Not because he was man or socially awkward, but because he's embarrassed.

"I'll be gone for at least a week," she added.

"Ok."

She moved her head slightly while he turned his head, meeting her gaze with his normal eyes.

"I'll miss you," she said.

Oh, right.

"I'll miss you too," came a mechanical response.

Finally she took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, moving to pick up her bags. Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets, turned, and followed her to the door. Yuugao scooped up the baby girl and fitted her in this awesome sling Kurenai bought for them... "…Say bye-bye," Yuugao instructed the child. But the little girl cooed, stretching playful arms for her father's hair or nose…or something she could grab and twist. Those wandering fingers finally latched onto her mother's hair who yelped after getting lost in her husband's eyes.

Awkward.

"Right—well—" Yuugao adjusted the sling one more time and the bags while the baby thought all his was amusing. "—Goodbye."

Breathless and light.

That was almost three weeks ago.

Kakashi stood and gazed up at the night sky, spelling clusters of stars like road maps though the jounin didn't really know where to begin. So he pulled a kunai out of his side pocket and began twirling it nervously as he exited the field. Making a game of it, the circular spin sped up and slowed down at his command.

_His command._

Oh, right.

He supposes he should tell somebody he's abandoning his duties to search for his wife and child.

Kakashi doesn't have to look long.

"My Eternal Rival! What are you doing out on the streets at this late hour! And do not even think of reciprocating the question for I will give you no answer for my actions! Interrogate me if you must!" As if a dare.

Which Kakashi entertained the option for three seconds until, "Sorry. I can't tonight Gai. I gotta mission."

But Gai was up to speed on the matter. "…She still has not returned?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"My Rival, I shall accompany you!" he volunteered.

"Oh, no, really Gai, I don't—"

"Nonsense! You cannot leave without backup! I forbid it!"

Kakashi sighed out through his nose. "…Fine," he agreed for the nth time of a circumstance similar to this. "But who do you think can cover for me while I'm gone…?"

Yamato was not busy at four o'clock in the morning. Oh no. He was only asleep.

Kakashi and Gai moved on from there.

.

.

.

Darkness painted the void a cold labyrinth of ink and rubble.

It was a darker color than all small places one could be trapped in by a complex set of seals, hidden for two years in the ground on a small narrow path no one had walked in twice as long a time. The woman didn't really know how far down this burrough went and she had no means to find out. Tears dropped into black without sound. She'd been crying to herself for the last half hour. The baby only for the last ten minutes since waking up.

The air soon echoed the shrieks and loud wailing—"Please don't cry!" Yuugao's voice cracked from across the way. Yuugao twisted her form again and again, but to no use. The child was suspended in the seal across the cavern similar to her mother. "Please! Please! Don't cry!" the mother called out again, aching to comfort the baby. "Now I know this is bad! Oh, please! _Please_…!"

Time was standing still.

In fact it was in this room with no view as a silent guard, watching with a thousand eyes over a cold cane of stone and rock. Immovable, impassable, the mother couldn't even scream. Her soul writhed inside the seal, trying to break free in fruitless efforts and fists. She could see the same trauma on her young across the way. The baby would die if Yuugao couldn't find a way out of this.

"Ok…calm down…" the kunoichi mouthed.

…

But her best plan was: Surely that lax of a husband I have is coming for me by _now_…

Right…?

.

Kakashi and Gai were singing karaoke in Tanzaku town. Maybe it was the lights. Maybe it was the four rounds of sake they just inhaled. Or maybe it was the lost manuscript of Icha Icha four, recovered by Tsunade several years ago and just too damn hot to handle.

They tripped off the stage, howling with laughter and broken sentences like slings and stitches, pure fragments of words which of course made total sense if you were drunk. After all, everything can be a metaphor if you let it.

"And then that time—he was so big! It was amazing to watch caterpillars float! BAM!" Gai slammed his fist on the table after they fell back down into their seats-their heads moving around in the air like balloons on a string.

"Oh damn," Tears began running from Kakashi's eyes instantly, "It's still yesterday," he cried.

"Kakashi? Is your face raining? Or is it the room?"

"Oh I thought we were outside."

"Oh yeah you're right. What are all these people doing here?"

"I'm not sure, let's go."

"Okay."

After walking into some walls, they made it outside and kept walking down the main drag. Kakashi dried his face on his sleeve and Gai weaved some odd dance steps by his rival's side, pretending it was just another training exercise. "…So…are we there yet?" Gai wondered.

"I don't think so," said his rival. "I don't remember what we were looking for."

"Oh, right."

.

Her body-soul was numb now from the fighting.

With time having seemed stopped, she couldn't remember how long it'd been since she tripped into this mess. Literally. _How fucking oblivious can you be you pig-headed moron?!_

Desperately she twitched her fingers every now and then to retain some sensation within her cold frame. _Yuugao, what did you do?_ she asked herself for the hundredth time, trying to figure out some way out of this.

The child's cries were finally slackening. The girl had shrieked and fitted, but to no avail. Yuugao could see her little face red from effort and from the chakra drainage they were both undergoing. Something like a cold knife twisted in the kunoichi's heart, "Please—hang on," Yuugao mouthed. Her voice was inaudible now, choked off by the sheer power of the seal, sucking away her energy.

Damn war.

Yuugao tried to think, scouring every last option open to her.

A genjutsu might work on the ink—if only she had the means to move her hands. This is when a Sharingan would come in handy. And even that was something Kakashi no longer possessed.

After a while, Yuugao realized she wasn't hungry. Nor was she sleepy. No, her body felt as if it was only a battery to operate this seal—and when it would suck her dry, time would stop…forever.

She would never be able to climb out again—all functions…would cease.

Yuugao forced her eyes open upon her child—she was still flinching with a frown much like her mother. "No…" Yuugao whispered. "No…." The seal was draining her. Except…this seal had been designed for only one person. And that person was someone who was already dead.

Like an edo-tensei summoning.

So with two living beings caught in it, Yuugao shivered to try and understand the outcome. She wasn't as analytical as Kakashi, but she knew it might be impossible to save them both should they even be found in time. And if one was saved, the seal would collapse—the other would die, sealed forever as a shell and a consciousness lost in the folds of time and rock…

Oh damn.

_Not again…_

.

"Not on my watch," Gai saluted. Though his vision was somewhat dubious at the moment. Kunai knives thrown into the wood kept hitting his shadow, but Gai kept moving to stay ahead of it. Meanwhile, his rival was up in a tree, looking through the patches of clearing for the stars.

How pretty.

Pretty, just like someone he was looking for just now. Who was she? He didn't really know, but he felt a little empty without her for some strange reason. Though she was probably annoying. But…(as his back settles into a bitter knot in the bark) she did give a nice back rub.

Oh yeah. That's right.

And not only did he have her, he had a kid too.

A girl.

Two girls.

Two pretty girls. Who whined and moaned and laughed and played. Who took adventures in his yard by day, and by night, opened tales of Icha—er, _Naruto_ the brave shinobi. Meanwhile, he'd come in at an even later hour and she always pretended not to notice, but to have aspirin and a glass of water waiting for you when you got in? Oh _that's_ love.

Really.

And he could use the aspirin right about now anyway. Oh and then there was that time he was training with Gai and instead of interrupting them verbally, she joined the sparring match with a high-flying kick to Gai's head. It was so refreshing to see someone do that to him for once. He dodged, but only at the last split second like a true taijutsu master. And then ten minutes later she was like, "Oh lunch is ready," and went back inside casually to check on the baby.

Gai stayed around that afternoon. Painters were re-doing his apartment and new carpet was going in after and yeah. It was a big deal. Of course Yuugao had enough food ready for everyone. She could multi-task pretty well. Some days she was like a super…woman.

Because when the time came to pull weeds and start growing something in his father's fields, he didn't really know where to start. Then Yuugao came along, and the following season's harvest was huge. In fact it was so big, Naruto could not eat all of it like he was dared to. (He lost a bet with beets or radishes or something.) Kakashi has forgotten the details. He only remembers that he spent half the harvest profit on liquor, and put the other half away because that's when he found out Yuugao was pregnant. Which they tried to keep to themselves of course until three months rolled by and Gai spilled the beans. See what happened was he took them from Kakashi's fields (with recompense of course), and then spilled them all on the way home. So, Kakashi, taking her figuratively, bemoaned when he saw his former students the next day.

"I guess you know," he sighed.

"Know what sensei?"

"Don't toy with me. I know you're not children anymore."

By the time the ex copy-nin realized his mistake, Team 7 were already sending baby gifts.

"You wicked woman," greeted Yuugao when he walked in.

"What?"

"'Gai spilled the beans'?" he said flatly.

"I—Oh. Kakashi…did you infer that to mean…?"

His look informed her.

"Oops."

Then she started laughing.

Right.

Typical.

But…

What if…something terrible has happened? (Something worse than having a wife, baby, and instant fatherhood.) What if she's hurt? Or the baby?

What if she's screaming in the dark.

.

.

.

She's screaming in the dark.

She's almost lost all feeling.

Darkness was tangible. It was black and all around and it was so incredibly cold. It was coursing through her veins with silent screams and a bleak, dry smell and dragging her down like slipping through a slender hourglass. She couldn't breathe, though she must have been. She was still alive, though the light was fading and her child's screams are still bouncing off the rock like astounded whispers. _Was she really still crying?_

…_Is it…really going to end like this?_ Yuugao shook her head though she doubted her head moved.

_This was just supposed to be a mini-vacation to collect some flowers and have some fun. How the fuck did I get here you stupid bitch!_

Finally, Yuugao felt her entire middle section seize, like being squeezed into a corset two sizes too small. A fire raged inside her against the gripping cold, and that fire consumed her, inch by inch with ink and something like razor wire wrapping all around her. The seal was beginning to take effect—

She couldn't even scream.

Her flesh was on fire.

Pain consumed every cell.

She was going to be sealed into some dark chasm of existence. Forever. And the baby, too.

No.

_Not like this_.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no…

.

"Hey—look at that hole over there…be careful. There's traps everywhere." Gai warned, carefully watching his step after seeing some all around. Snapped twigs were a majority of the victims thus far.

But they were good traps. From Iwagakure no less. Damn rock nin. (No Kakashi's not still bitter.) The ex copy-nin peered over the strange well in the ground they had come across. Yuugao's scent had disappeared hours ago with the rain leading out like a mass of dark blue blankets in the sky. It was all much harder to spot without the Sharingan but he could see the faint black ink markings slowly moving down the rock. "This…has been activated."

"I pity the poor creature that fell down there."

"Mm…" Kakashi stood, but his frame hesitated. He kneeled down again.

He thought he heard a small cry.

"Want to go down…?" Gai wondered cautiously, though he was eager to move on.

"Mm…sure. But let's be careful."

"Right."

Because of course he doubted there'd be an Edo-Tensei body still down there, because they were all released, right…? No doubt this was just some poor animal on it's last leg—

Kakashi's heart rammed into his ribcage before stopping.

"YUUGAO!"

Moments away from being sealed alive.

He knew instantly this spell was of Iwa design. And he knew instantly they never cleaned up these kinds of messes. Ruthless sons of bitches. The first thing he's gonna do when he gets back is start a war with those inglorious—

"Kakashi!"

"No, Gai, wait! It's too dangerous!"

Because the last thing Kakashi wants is for Gai to sacrifice himself for his wife and child though he has surmised by now they might only be able to save one of them.

THINK.

_THINK!_

"Gai!"

Because the seal had defense mechanisms built into it—no doubt the writer had spent a great deal of time and chakra on this. But Gai was opening his gates and maybe—just maybe if he could…

Meanwhile Kakashi went straight for the baby—slapping on some chakra and watching white sparks fly against blue, performing a complicated set of seals he hasn't signed so fast since the war.

"Hang on!"

Kakashi caught the child he freed and he was sent flying backward though there wasn't exactly any place to land so Gai had to abandon his efforts on Yuugao and catch his rival by the collar. The seal began binding faster. At the last moment Gai threw a kunai tied on a rope to the wall—Kakashi was a bit heavier than he used to be, but now wasn't the time to tell him. "Gai!"

"I know!"

They couldn't save Yuugao.

But they could catch the sealed mummy before she fell into the abyss.

.

"Yuugao! Yuugao!"

Ow.

"Yuugao…!"

Kakashi slapped his hand again on the seal, trying every counter seal he knew. Gai watched as it burned his rival every time. Kakashi's fingers flinched but he kept touching the paper. Effort, pain. Effort, singe. Effort, ow. Until finally it was getting worse—"Kakashi…" Gai murmured sadly. "Don't…"

"Ow!"

Kakashi wrung his hands, waving them as if to put out a fire on his flesh. He cursed rapidly and then tried another seal release jutsu—bright white sparks shot everywhere and one pierced right back through his heart.

The ex copy-nin flinched.

But he went right back at the ink, cursing it all the way. Gai hesitated coming closer—"Kakashi…it's not working…." He spoke softly.

"Shut up!"

One more jutsu—one more fail.

Another slap on the bandages, another piercing hot poker of pain in his arms and chest, spreading to overtake his heart.

Another curse of the mouth.

Another tear escaping his eye after every failed attempt.

"Kya…kya…" Gai spoke.

"No…" Kakashi voiced.

Not like this.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

No.

Kakashi raised his head.

Then after a while he picked up his wife's concealed form and he stared beyond the black and white tape onto the sod. "Gai, return to the village…please protect my child. I'm going…" He was going to say the name of the place, but by the time 'I'm going' left his mouth, the jounin didn't want to speak anymore.

"But…What if…"

_ What if the castor is dead?_

Kakashi looked at Gai squarely. "Well then I'll bring him back from the dead too."

"…You know the edo-tensei jutsu?"

"It can't be that hard."

Yeah no. "Kakashi…"

"Yeah I know."

Gai looked down at the silver-haired girl in his arms. She had been quiet the entire time. But he felt warmth from her—but maybe that was mostly him. Gai shifted. The child wasn't going to wake up anytime soon seeing as she'd suffered her first major loss of chakra. Meanwhile, Yuugao…The dark-haired man sighed. Kakashi turned to leave, and Gai turned with him—"You're not going alone." In a tone that was seldom debatable.

"Fine."

As if it didn't matter one way or the other to Konoha's ex copy-nin.

.

"Hey, hey…" Naruto peered around another empty corner. "Where's Ka-kai-sensei?"

Beside him, Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him around lately."

Naruto opened the door all the way to his office and suddenly a small eraser dropped on his head. Sakura began laughing, "Naruto! That's the third time you've fallen for that!"

But after the initial wounding of pride, Naruto wasn't paying any mind to his former teammate. Slowly he walked around the desk, scanned the papers, checked out the bookcases, Ukki-kun part three, and couldn't really find anything amiss…except…"What are you looking for?" Sakura folded her arms impatiently.

Naruto suddenly grinned. He didn't find his sensei, but he found_ it_. It was hidden behind some books in the cabinet. Kakashi would no doubt surely be missing_ it_. "Ho ho…!" Pulling out the lost installment of Icha Icha, Sakura promptly walked over and tried to smack him but the golden-haired adult was quicker this time and ran off with the thing…

Tripping over the eraser on the way out.

.

Iwagakure.

Kakashi was cursing all the way there. And as a man in his position with credentials, he was positively lethal. And so was his clone, whom he sent off as soon as they crossed the border. And though the red eye was gone from that left eye, Gai could still see the fire burning. Especially now.

He hadn't seen it for some time.

Meanwhile the only bright spot in light pink frills and a lace collar (from Haruno Sakura) was waking up finally, starring at the bright green spandex and bushy brows of the taijutsu master (also a big name after the war. He was really popular in Kumo.)

The baby blew a bubble and made some interesting noises of gibberish which actually sounded like, "Boo boo baa aiye boo boo baa."

Gai didn't really know what it meant, but it summarized the journey thus far. The baby girl—_Kakashi's_ baby girl smiled up at him with rosy cheeks, thin lips, and eyes of her mother. Strange, round, and hazel-rimmed with big black pupils. Gai smiled, and then he frowned.

Kakashi kept pushing ahead, carrying the corpse in a cocoon.

Gai cleared his throat.

But didn't say a word.

.

The new tsuchikage was deeply regrettable over this whole incident and formally—

Kakashi stomped his foot and leaned over the ink and white burden in his arms, "_Now_," his voice intoned with all the severity of a million threats.

(Naruto would so kick his ass for diplomacy skills right about now. But Kakashi knows the kid well enough to know he can be a hypocrite too. Tazuna, anyone?)

"…Right…" The new tsuchikage murmured, nodding to his aides, to, quote, turn this hell hole upside down for the son of an ass who wrote this God damn fucking seal.

The man in question was a permanent resident of the best medical facility in town whose security were astonished and fearful to find the ex copy-in and his lethal aura walking in, still carrying the inked chrysalis of their design. Of course the tsuchikage followed at Kakashi's heels, swiftly moving toward the staircase because he doesn't trust the elevator or his head to stay cool inside of it.

And it was up there past that spiral design on the fourth floor that he found him lounging on his bed in a life of ease holding the colorful pages of a magazine with those foreign inked cards of language with a structure unlike any other. There were two other men in this unpainted room on temporary cots; white walls and grey floors with a handsome twist of greenery growing in a large brown pot near the sealist's bed. The trunk was unique to Stone country with twists of bark and branches able to grow even in the rockiest soil. The leaves were narrow and long.

Kakashi's gaze was such, staring straight into the man's soul as if he was ready to tear it into pieces. There appeared nothing much wrong with the Iwa jounin, though there was some serious advanced equipment near his bed with a few wires and monitors feeding information back and forth. There was also a rather large scar under his chin, perhaps stretching across his heart underneath the grey fabric. The man looked up over the pages. "…Huh…?"

Kakashi's gaze did not waver. "I'm glad you're still able to use your hands."

"…Oh?" the man replied.

Kakashi leaned in (still holding Yuugao in the hard shell of paper), his black eyes meeting with blue, grey hair meeting with a faded blonde.

"Release the seal."

As if the man hadn't noticed the rather large cocoon inches away from his body and bed, "Oh…That?" he said, glancing at the dried ink and omens, and then looking at the new tsuchikage with a bit of a tense look on her face.

"Oh…" the man said again. "Hm…."

Gai's palms were dropping beads of sweat onto the floor.

Or maybe that was the baby…

No time to check.

Kakashi did not want to waste any time as his voice dropped yet again, "Well?"

"Um…" the man slowly closed the colored paper in favor of more attention on the black and white. "Well…it's…complicated," he decided.

Kakashi glared. "No. You took land. You took my best friend. Now you take my wife. Unacceptable," And in the fashion of his ANBU days, set his wife's….form on the bed and took out a big black shiny thing with a big black pointy end.

"No! Please! Enough!" the tsuchikage immediately remedied, though Kakashi merely paused on route to threaten the man any further. "…Surely you can take another _look_?" the tsuchikage raised her brow.

The man in bed sighed—sitting up even straighter than a few moments ago. "Ok…Well…It is complicated," he muttered. "And yeah, it is mine," he took his credit, "But there's…well…a design…flaw…"

"And?" Kakashi still had the kunai ready in his hand.

"Well…In order to break this, I sort of designed it to require a….sacrifice in order to activate the countermeasure…I did that, because…"

"Life was never sacred to you bastards—"

"Kya-kashi," Gai muttered.

"Please," the tsuchikage interrupted, "Our methods—"

"Are a bitch," Kakashi seethed. The ex copy-nin pointed the blade at the man in bed. "How about you?"

"Kakashi," Gai said again.

"Shut up Gai."

The sealist looked over at the odd bushy-haired man and noticed the drop of water falling from under the child.

Gai was too tense now to appear embarrassed—or to care for that matter. Kakashi would clean up the mess anyway, or…it was usually…

"My wife was alive when she was caught in your seal. Surely that changes the dynamics."

The man twisted the line of his mouth, considering Kakashi's words. "Well…it's true not everything is set in _stone_," he muttered the adage in his homeland, "But…well…" He looked at the seal now in full with more attention than before. After almost a minute, he pursed his lip again and considered. "Perhaps…" he said slowly, "And since I'm under threat…" he chuckled a bit, "I could give it a shot."

"I hope so. Because we're _both_ intelligent enough to know that_ your_ life isn't much incentive."

The man looked up at Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled behind the mask.

"Kya…" it was inaudible.

So_ that's_ what Kakashi's clone had been up to.

Well damn. Ruthless as ever.

"Your family? Or mine?" Kakashi threatened calmly.

There was silence in the room—tension thick as a thunderstorm and just as loud.

The tsuchikage swallowed, trying to make an effort to be intimidating herself, "The _wars_ are both over, copy—"

"The wars are _not_ over," Kakashi's voice boomed, "The only thing retired is that name your country gave me. And I assure you I am _still_ that man."

.

.

.

The man in bed finally inhaled.

He drew his legs in, sitting cross-legged on the sheets, focusing his chakra.

Finally, exuding an aura the color of that ridiculous fancy plant in the corner, he placed his hand on the ink and white sparks flew. "…Damn!"

The ink was beginning to morph—the words were alive and dancing, giving Gai the creeps as if the kanji should start to spell this very scene and what Kakashi's blade could do if the man failed. It really _could_ start another war. Some of the symbols were nullifying, but the sealist could not keep up the pace. Kakashi glared, "What's going on?"

"I don't know—I can't seem to get it…" And he spoke the next phrase that no ninja wants to utter, "I won't have enough chakra to reverse it."

"You had enough chakra to_ make_ it."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm not the same man I once was," the man snapped back, flinching under the strain.

Kakashi hesitated, but he flung the blade into the floor at ninety miles an hour and touched his hand on the other side.

_SNAP._

Kakashi's knees buckled. "…Damn!"

Chakra was leaving his body so fast—it was a sensation last felt with a new Sharingan in his left eye socket. Kakashi's feet stabilized and subsequently his eyes began to close, feeling old age in a matter of seconds with a fast pulse and a faint head and no strength until…forcing his eyes open, he saw the white tape with a few strands left…a few…oh only a few…just three, then two, then…hang on…

hang on…

ZIP.

Tape fell away but the men fell over first.

"Kakashi…! Yuugao…!" Gai gasped.

The tsuchikage and Gai changed positions, reaching their fallen comrades. _"Kya-kya-shi!_ Are you all right?" Gai exclaimed, trying to help him up.

Shakily, Kakashi reached up for the bed slowly, also leaning on Gai's arm for the nth time in his life, struggling just to stand and open his eyes—once he did he found some last reserves in his frame hovering over his wife: in a bed with another man and unconscious.

"…Yuugao!"

Kakashi checked for a pulse.

There was none.

.

Quickly he performed compressions; breathed. Pushed. Called. Begged.

Gai's eyes were wet.

Breathed. Pushed. Called. Begged.

The iwa men were silent.

Breathed. Pushed. Begged.

"Yuugao! No! Please…! Dear God you _can't!"_

Again and again.

Damn if she dies.

Again and again.

Not like all those other_ times_—

Again and again.

Again and again.

Until.

"_I love you_…!"

He gave up soon…his head fallen over hers and tears escaping his eyes. Until suddenly, her inhale was sharp and audible as she came to life all of a sudden and still cold.

Kakashi gasped, looked at her, and took her in his arms with her hair sweeping off the sheet and her limp arms at her side.

"Yuugao!" Gai exclaimed as she was beginning to wake her eyes, though her lids were still closed tight from her sealed state.

"Baa! Baa!" the baby cooed recognizing her mama.

Kakashi was holding her so tight he could feel her heart pounding. He needed to feel it, and he still wasn't letting go.

The sealist smiled a little, mostly impressed with the effort.

The tsuchikage was nearby, ready to think about retribution, sanctions, really anything that would suck.

"Yuugao! Oh…_Yuugao!"_

Yeah, his mask was wet and his threats were soggy now and empty. "Yuugao!" he whispered,_ "I love you!"_

Finally, she began to see.

"…Hmm?" she mumbled, because she was a little speechless. But then she noticed their baby in Gai's arms and she remembered. "Mmm….?"

She was suddenly bewildered at being alive. Breathing. Feeling the jounin's presence. And his heartbeat.

.

Kakashi's punishment was quite extensive, but he didn't really mind.

Well. Okay. He did. Because he showed up late for community service every single day. But you can bet he was home early every night, romancing the girl who'd fall into a seal just for a flower that might help her hubby. She agreed she was never doing that again. In fact, her penchant for homeopathy took a hiatus for several months.

And it kind of took her a while to recoup from the experience physically and mentally. Every now and then she'd feel claustrophobic in that house and remember the feeling of her insides being on fire and wrung like a wet towel and all those horrible—

Kakashi practically leapt twelve feet to her side, but overshot by two and stumbled into a wall, leaving yet another dent in (their) lovely home.

"Oh, I'm okay," she smiled bravely, resisting the urge to laugh at him.

"No you're not! I'll get you some aspirin and some water!"

Because dammit, _that's_ love.

Yuugao giggled. "Umm…okay." And by the time he got back she was already in the bedroom with a nose in a book—or a book up her nose. Whichever.

Some nights, just some nights, she'd continue to dwell on the event and they'd hold hands and talk about it slowly. And sometimes she still asked Kakashi, "But really, doesn't it bother you that I woke up in bed with another man…?"

"Naw. It was my fault really. I'm the one that put you there."

…

Gai still stopped in frequently, hearing horror stories of their love, heightened, maddened, and otherwise expanded by this crazy experience. He didn't remember either of them being this insane, or this happy. He always walked away, muttering, "_Lunatics_…"

The baby felt the connection most. She was beginning to talk—"Da-da!" was her first word.

Kakashi wept for four hours.

Yuugao wept with him. It felt so good to cry though. Because after the seal, it was as if she was experiencing every emotion for the very first time. Of course she remembered those days of being dry of tears after Hayate—just before and during the war, but now she had a well of them again.

So did Kakashi.

All it took was for them to dig a little deeper.

And the mature field was a still a lavender ocean in the middle of the night.

It was always much lighter than the color of her hair, but it was just as long.

.

.

.

.

-Caliko, _Kariko Emma_


End file.
